Almost half a million of Russians get anti-COVID-19 jabs daily, says minister

MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. The current tempo of the anti-COVID-19 vaccination in Russia is on a five-fold increase compared to early spring and almost half a million of Russians are receiving anti-coronavirus jabs daily, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told TASS on Monday. "We have reached today a figure of almost half a million," Manturov said. "This is a significant increase if compared to reported figures of 80,000-100,000 in March." "Our previously forecast number of vaccines envisaged 30 million doses per month including the export needs and this is what we said in May," the minister continued. "It will all depend now on how fast the domestic market of the vaccination grows." Manturov stated earlier that 36.7 million doses of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus had been already commissioned in Russia and 30 million doses were planned to be rolled out in July. "This is why we need to secure a strategic stock [of the vaccines] in the regions," the minister said. "Today, we must first of all, provide in full for the needs of our Health Ministry." To date, four anti-coronavirus vaccines have been registered in Russia: Sputnik V and Sputnik Light from the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, EpiVacCorona by the Vector State Scientific Center of Virology and Biotechnology, and CoviVac vaccine by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center. Vaccines Sputnik V, EpiVacCorona, and CoviVac are two-component, Sputnik Light is a one-component vaccine. The second component of Sputnik V is administered after 21 days, EpiVacCorona is injected with an interval of no less than 14-21 days, while CoviVac is introduced with an interval of 14 days. Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has been approved for use in 67 countries totaling over 3.5 billion people. More than 30 nations have already launched mass vaccination campaigns using Sputnik V. The Russian vaccine boasts a 91.6% efficiency rate, which is confirmed by the data published in the Lancet medical journal. Read more